Spring, a Vancouver-based impact activator targeting startups and entrepreneurs, announced that it would be partnering with digital media and technology school RED Academy to create a skills and innovation hub. The two organizations say it is the first of its kind in British Columbia.

“Startups and talent go hand-in-hand; you can’t have one without the other,” said Keith Ippel, co-founder of Spring. “At Spring, we help entrepreneurs from ideation to launch by supporting them through the difficult early stages, including validating an idea, identifying demand, and developing a business plan for sustainable profitability. Since RED Academy develops the next generation of entrepreneurs with the skills they need to innovate, by working together, we’ll be able to offer the support and development needed to put B.C. on the map as a thriving centre of innovation.”

Spring is a combination incubator-accelerator, and has worked with 145 Canadian entrepreneurs to teach techniques for creating a business model, pitching, growth hacking, raising capital, hiring, and customer discovery. RED Academy, also founded by tech entrepreneurs, gives digital marketers and web designers hands-on experience with its real-world agency model, where students work on real projects submitted by a wide network of community partners.

“Spring and RED have very similar values; in particular, the idea of social impact,” said Colin Mansell, co-founder of RED Academy. “Canadian tech companies have the opportunity to change the traditional profit model by shifting towards social enterprise. That’s what Keith and I have aimed to do from the start, and now we can work together to foster the next generation of innovators.”

Spring will be moving into the RED Academy location at 1490 West Broadway in Vancouver on April 1st.